How did that happen? A massive shake up in the Giro puts Richie Porte (Saxobank) in Pink. After an early break away, later strengthend with over 50 riders, the major GC contenders and their teams held back, even as the lead group gain over 17 minutes during the 262 km stage from Lucera to L’Aquila.
The counter attack from the main group started too late and towards the finishing line the riders were jostling for position with Russian rider Evgeni Petrov (Team Katusha) taking a 5 second victory over Italian Darlo Cataldo and Carlos Sastre.
Richie Porte finished 13th however his good GC position puts him in pink, 1min 42sec before Spaniard David Arroyo (Team Caisse d’Epargne) and the 24 year old Croatian rider Robert Kiserlovski (Team Liquigas Doimo).
Previous race leader Vinokourov is now 12th overall, 10 minutes behind and Cadel Evans is behind Vinokourov and trails by 11 minutes.
